This article originally appeared in the November-December 2006 issue of the Children's Advocate, published by Action Alliance for Children.

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Hot Topic

Healthier communities for kids

Advocacy groups push for better food and more places to exercise

By April R. Gavin

Rather than blame parents and children for childhood obesity, “it’s important to (move) the debate beyond personal responsibility,” says Edie Jessup, Hunger and Nutrition Project coordinator at Fresno Metro Ministries. Many low-income parents don’t have the time or money to travel out of the neighborhood to a supermarket, but many smaller neighborhood stores don’t carry fresh produce and other healthy foods. And food in these neighborhood stores is generally more expensive. As one parent said, “I know we’re supposed to eat five (servings of fruit and vegetables) a day, but I have eight kids so that’s 40 a day. How can I afford that?”

So advocates like Jessup are organizing at the grassroots level to make communities healthier for kids, with better food choices and more opportunities to exercise.

Fresno:

New Leaders for Better Health

In Southeast Fresno, like many low-income neighborhoods, the supermarkets have moved out, so “it’s easier for us to get fast or frozen foods versus buying healthier foods,” says Mario Talavera, an unemployed father of four who moved to Fresno 18 years ago from Durango, Mexico. Advertising is also a big problem, he adds: “Kids see and are offered chips and sodas all the time.”

Learning about nutrition

Talavera learned more about healthy food by attending meetings of New Leaders for Better Health, a parent group organized by Fresno Metro Ministries. “I learned the importance of adding vegetables to children’s daily diet—and exercise—to be healthy,” says Talavera, “and how we as parents should teach our children about balanced diets for their health.

“Programs like these make us as parents open our eyes and teach us to be cautious and healthy,” he adds. “Diabetes is common now for kids. When I was growing up only old people had it—it’s tough and sad.”

Training for advocacy

In May, two busloads of parents from New Leaders for Better Health traveled to Sacramento to lobby for bills that would make it easier for low-income children to get healthy food. Fresno Metro Ministries prepared them with an advocacy training day, when they figured out their message and role-played talking about it. Many of the parents were able to tell their stories directly to their legislator. One parent said, “I came last year, but this year I am a citizen and I can vote.”

Fresno Metro Ministries has also taught parents to go into schools and ask for better food choices. At Burroughs Elementary School, parents asked the principal for a summer lunch program. The principal liked the idea but said the school did not have the staff, so the parents volunteered to take turns staffing the cafeteria. Now the children—and their younger siblings—can enjoy a healthy lunch all year.

At Sequoia Middle School, the kids took the lead. They were upset with their school breakfast menu—maple bars every day! The kids spoke to their parents and together they approached the school administration and cafeteria workers. The result was better quality and variety of food.

Currently, Fresno Metro Ministries is working on a citywide food assessment funded by First 5 and Kaiser. The focus is on child care, on teaching young kids about nutritious food and physical activity so they build good habits early. Next they plan to work with local farmers to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to child care programs.

Placentia:

Community Action Partnership

Like southeast Fresno, low-income Placentia has lost its supermarkets. “Supermarkets leave a community because they could not make a profit. It takes a long time for a supermarket to return,” says Dolores Barrett in Community Action Partnership of Orange County’s (CAPOC) health program.

Partnering with local stores

But Placentia has a rich resource: many ethnic markets, some of which have been in the community for decades. CAPOC partners with 30 of these ethnic markets and takes parents on tours. The parents check labels for high fat, sodium, and sugar content. Then they seek healthier alternatives. A parent from the group then leads the next market tour.

The ethnic stores had good selections of fruit and vegetables, but during the market tours CAPOC realized that many of their canned goods were high in fat. So now CAPOC trains parents to ask for a better selection of healthy foods. CAPOC also works with some partner stores that sell healthy food to improve their outside appearance, so they can attract more customers.

Advocating for exercise

CAPOC has also worked to create more places in the community for kids to exercise. In June, they organized parents to meet with Placentia’s Parks and Recreation Department about several parks that were overgrown and had outdated playground equipment. The parents asked for the parks to be cleaned up and the playground equipment replaced. Since then, a cleanup day has been scheduled for one of the parks the parents identified.

CAPOC also organized parents to meet with planners of an upcoming 110-acre redevelopment project in the downtown area. As a result, the plan now includes a grocery store, a Metrolink station, an ethnic foods store, and a downtown plaza for walking.

Statewide advocacy:

National Council of La Raza

Due to the high rate of obesity among Latino children, the National Council of La Raza has taken on childhood obesity as a major focus. In July, they held a conference on the effects of childhood obesity, and they plan to work in the legislature next year for two main goals:

• A program that supports community groups in educating residents about nutrition in their neighborhood and on how to ask for better food choices, as Fresno Metro Ministries and CAPOC are doing.

• A grant program for community grocery stores, to fund things like refrigeration and better shelving of fresh produce.

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For more information

• California Food Policy Advocates, 415-777-4422, www.cfpa.net

• Center for Public Health Advocacy, 530-297-6000, www.publichealthadvocacy.org

• Community Action Partnership of Orange County, 714-897-6670, www.capoc.org

• Fresno Metro Ministries, 209-485-1416, www.fresnometmin.org

• National Council of La Raza, 916-448-9852, www.nclr.org

• Strategic Alliance, 510-444-7738, www.preventioninstitute.org/sa

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Extra resources from the Children’s Advocate bulletin

• Active Hours Afterschool: Childhood Obesity Prevention and Afterschool Programs, from Afterschool Alliance, discusses the effects of childhood obesity, the need for children to eat better and get more exercise, and ways that afterschool programs can help reduce obesity. Online at http://www.afterschoolalliance.org
  /issue_briefs/issue_obesity_24.pdf

• Biting into Obesity, an article from the San Diego Union Tribune, profiles a SDSU project that partnered with community residents to encourage local stores to promote healthy food, spruce up playgrounds, get adults moving, and get restaurants to offer healthier children's food. Online at http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/
  20061016/news_1m16obese.html

• Eating Well, Living Well, from San Diego's Community College District, offers tips for providing nutrition education to adults who speak limited English. Includes lessons and materials, trainings, nutrition information, and ideas for partnering with ESL programs. Online at http://www.sdcoe.net/
  eatingwell

• Fit Source, from the National Child Care Information Center, compiles links for teachers and providers to nutrition and physical activity game ideas, lesson plans, and information for parents. Also includes links to national campaigns and funding strategies. Online at http://fitsource.nccic.acf.hhs.gov/fitsource

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